The Article
WHAT IS AN AUDIOPHILE?
19th November 2019
A much misunderstood term. It’s used as a form of accusation when it should be used as a measure of celebration. Paul Rigby explains the meaning of the word and why he calls himself The Audiophile Man and not the HiFi-phile Man
It’s one of those ingrained things. The term has been floating around forever and lots of people see it as wholly negative. But I think the name has an unfair press, as it where.
Why else would I use it as my brand name?
So this is my attempt to get to the bottom of the name and to offer my version of what it means to be an audiophile.
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To see the video, click on the image below…
Personally, I consider myself to be a music fan and hi-fi enthusiast having started buying music at age 13 then hearing the differences in how two supposedly similar record players played the same music a year later. I’ve been on the path of securing the best performing components to play music on ever since. I’ve no wish to be considered a ‘phile’ of any sort thank you very much!
I’m not sure about the perceived snobbery element of the hobby. Sure, better things cost more money but doesn’t everything. There’s nothing snobbish about spending ¬£4.5k on a Supernait for example which is a ‘functional’ piece of kit at best, albeit one that does a good job. You can’t drive it about like a BMW or wear it like a Rolex in order to impress people. Taking it down the pub might be considered a little strange! Which makes being a hi-fi enthusiast quite a modest hobby in my opinion, confined to the enthusiast and his/her household alone plus a few friends maybe.
Hi Andy – thanks for that. Yes, it’s a good point, we are rather reserved…or where. I think social media has a lot to answer for in changing that a bit, though 🙂 Not always for the good, either!
I love the image of taking your Naim down the pub, “[wheeze, puff] Hi Lads! [strain, wheeze] Er, a pint of bitter please, barman [struggle, teeter] So, lads, guess what I just bought? [topple, crash].” Indeed.
Perhaps a Schiit DAC might be easier. I feel a Dave Allen sketch coming on…
I miss Dave Allen.